A Dragon's Farewell
by crwbanlletchwith
Summary: Drago has returned and seeks vengeance on the dragons. Hiccup must come up with a plan to prevent the destruction of Berk as well as the extinction of dragons- even if that means saying goodbye to them, incuding Toothless forever.


**A/N: Hey guys, so this is my first httyd fanfiction. Originally I was planning for this to be a one-shot, but figured it would be too long, so instead, it will be a short story, probably no more than 5 chapters. Like I said, it's my first time writing httyd fanfiction so I'd like to hear how I'm doing and how I could improve. So, here it goes.**

It had been 18 months since this war had started, though it felt like much longer. Hiccup- the chief of the once charming island of Berk- was only 24 years old, but he may as well have been 84 after all the destruction he had seen in his short life. Not that that was possible, Hiccup thought. Vikings rarely ever lived so long.

A lot of lives had been lost while trying to protect the dragons they had come to love so dearly. Many dragons' lives had also been lost to the wrath of Drago; and Hiccup had to watch as these unfortunate vikings mourned the loss of their beloved pets and best friends. It had become too much for Hiccup to bear. He hadn't yet lost anyone close to his heart- since his father's death, that is- but any death in his village was hard. He had vowed to protect his people, but here they were, dropping all around him.

Hiccup knew that Astrid was worried about him. Though he pretended he didn't notice, the concerned glances and the delicate touches were hard to ignore. They never spoke of it though, how Hiccup would be fortunate to have an hour of rest each night or how his diminished appetite was weakening him further.

Hiccup always strived to keep the peace, but the longer this war went on, the less he believed peace would do anything at all. Drago wasn't interested in peace, his only interest lied in watching the obliteration of all dragon-kind. After his plan of taking control of all dragons failed, he sought vengeance in the next best thing, their extinction. Where would Berk and similar villages be without dragons? Before their alliance, they'd fought dragons for hundreds of years, Berkians didn't know a life where dragons didn't exist.

Currently Hiccup sat at his desk. Sketches plastered the wall in front of him. Projects ranging from the first wing tail he'd made for Toothless to recent ones that he never started because his duties as chief always came first- as his father had taught him. He lay his head on the desk, wanting nothing more than to sleep but he knew another restless night was inevitable. He thought back to other times he'd spent in this workshop. A young Hiccup spent all of his time there, before Toothless came along and whisk him off on adventures. Now, Hiccup would spend in there when something was troubling him- when there was a dispute in the village or just one he'd had with Astrid. It relaxed him, made him think of simpler times when his only worry was this giant lizard he was hiding from his father. Gods, he wished he still had such simple problems now.

"I thought I'd find you in here" Astrid said from the doorway. Hiccup turned to face her. He was constantly baffled by her beauty, even when her face and clothes were covered in dirt and her braid was untidy- like they were now. She had been on duty that night, helping clean up the village after the recent attack. Berk looked less like village Hiccup had come to love and more like a smokey hell. "You've been in here a lot the past few weeks."

That was true. As soothing as it usually was sitting in there, it hadn't helped Hiccups nerves as much as he had hoped, but that didn't stop him from trying. Some nights Astrid would come in with bed hair and sleep in her eyes, wordlessly take his hand and sit with him. It was comforting having her there with him, he was lucky to have her.

Now, Astrid ran her fingers over a picture he had drawn of Toothless that hung on the wall in front of him. Hiccup reached over to take her hand, and pulled her into a hug. Her hair smelled of smoke and ash but he didn't care. She was there and warm and alive and that's all that mattered. He felt her fingers run through his hair and in response pressed a kiss into the side of her neck before speaking.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," she squirmed when his voice vibrated against her neck so Hiccup pulled back to look at her, "but I need to get back to work."

"Hiccup, you've been working nonstop for months. What you _need_ is sleep," she insisted while trying to pull him to his feet, but Hiccup resisted.

"No, I- I need to find a way to protect the village. To protect the lives of my people" he took her hand "our people, and the-"

"And the dragons. Yes I know Hiccup." Astrid cupped his hand between both of her own "But if you carry on like this, you'll only succeed in killing yourself. I don't want to see that happen."

"Well, I don't want to see you dead either, or my mom, or Toothless, or any other person on Berk. I can't handle losing anyone else." He looked up at her then and caught her blue eyes watching him, considering everything he had told her. "I just want to keep you safe." Hiccup entwined his fingers with hers, squeezing tightly as if that could stop Death's cruel hand stealing Astrid away.

"Do you know what will make me feel safer?" Hiccup sighed, not bothering to answer because he knew where this was going. "If you came to bed, and got some sleep. Don't worry, I'll wake you up bright and early for the town meeting tomorrow." Knowing for certain she had finally won this ongoing argument, she smiled and pressed a kiss to Hiccup's forehead before walking out.

"Fine." Hiccup answered begrudgingly, following his wife out of the study. Though he had to admit, once he had found himself in the warmth of her arms, in the bed they shared, he was glad of her persistence.

**A/N: I hope it wasn't too bad. Let me know what you think. I'm awfully slow at updating chapters, plus I'm starting uni next week, so bear with me. I have this whole story figured out so I'm hoping it won't take too long. Until next time…**


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